Writers Links

Writer’s Link List

Writing links are sometimes hard to find when you need them, so I’ve decided to add my very long list here. These are all places I frequent or find of very good use. These include Favorites, World Building Sites, Name generators and much more.

Favorites List

These are my all time favorite list of writing sites.

Preditors and Editors- A vast list of shifty, nasty or downright thieves and con-artists. I highly recommend this place to check out your would-be agent or editors BEFORE sending them money. Most Agents and Editors do NOT charge fees, so take a peek here first.

NaNoWriMo- The yearly event where writers from all over the world share a common goal, write 50,000 words in the month of November. The site really starts hopping around October. I suggest every writer try this at least once in their life time.

Romance Divas-A great site for romance authors. I don’t happen to write romance, but these divas are fantastic, and have helped me immensely with the romantic aspect of my writing.

Better Editor- An online resource for writers and editors. There’s style guides and grammar aid and an online thesaurus. If you need help in this area, this is the place to look.

Miss Snark’s Blog- A blog by a literary agent filled with amazing facts and information. Now, she’s retired from blogging, but her archives are invaluable. I highly suggest taking a peek.

Rum & Monkey- Filled with all sorts of fun stuff, you can find amazing name generators here or make your own. This is just a fun place to visit, but be forewarned, if you’re trying to make a word count goal, you might want to make your goal first. This place can get addictive.

Behind the Name & Behind the Name Surname– The first is the First Names place. It has thousands of names where you can look up meanings and origins and find all sorts of interesting things. The second is the same, only for Surnames. I’ve found this incredibly useful over the years. You also might be interested in their Name Generator.

Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions- The SFWA has re-posted Patricia Wrede’s worldbuilding questions. This list is amazing. When building a world you might want to answer a few of these and seriously ponder the rest. This is a fantastic list of things you might not think about at first.

World Building

Ad Hoc’s Builder Outline- Some very interesting stuff here when trying to figure out your aliens or other creatures that are of the inhuman or nonhuman sort.

Orion’s Arm Universe Project- I’ve been here a few times. I find it a bit busy, but it has some amazing things in it that might interest you if you’re building a sci-fi world.

Magical World Builder- This page written by, Stephanie Cottrell Bryant, has a page up that gives you a deed per day, for 30 days to build yourself a magic related world.

Worldbuilder, Build your own world- Step-by-step info on how to build a world from the ground up. This is more geared toward sci-fi rather than fantasy, but if you want creatures for a different planet, this is a great place to visit.

Freeware For Writers

OpenOffice- OpenOffice is a word processing program much like Word, only FREE. You have the option to download things like Calc (similar to Excel spreadsheets), Databases, Presentations, you know, the stuff that comes with Word. OpenOffice will also open MSWord docs, and allow you to export in various formats, including PDF. Windows, Mac and Linux OS versions available.

RoughDraft- RoughDraft is an very hand word processor if you’re looking for something a little more simple. It has some great features like, autoformating for screenwriting, and a handy notepad to scribble notes and other information you might need. Windows OS only.

Sticky Notes- This is an electronic sticky note with some cool features like organization and notes are customizable. Windows OS only.

Ywriter- Is a Word Processor for writers that lets you divide your novel into chapters. Include areas for character notes, locations, descriptions and word counts. Really handy if you need to stay organized. Windows and Linux OS versions available.

Text Block Writer- This is one of my favorites for outlining and planning scenes. It’s set up like the index card method giving you movable blocks to arrange your scenes as you see fit into various chapters. Windows OS only.

Dropbox- File backup and storage. Do NOT forget to backup your files. Flashsticks break, computers crash and there are days when tech seems like it’s out to ruin you. Dropbox is quick, easy and secure. It’s also free. Windows Mac and Linux versions available.

WordWeb- Is a free thesaurus and dictionary Very handy and works with OpenOffice and Roughdraft inside the wordprocessors. Windows version only.